Techno: Bonds
by Linden-Furaito
Summary: Run and survive, the two words she lived by since the young age of 6. With no real human contact for 15 years, she became the cold robot many believe the she truly was. Ghost to the physical world, Legend on the Web. Master Hacker, Techno. What will happen when she meets Stark and Pepper? Will her metal mask rust away, revealing the child she never could be or will she suffocate?
1. Call for Help

**EDITED: 6/3/2013**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_JARVIS talking in Jack's head"_

**This fanfiction is rated M for strong language, hints at adult situations and fighting.**

**Iron Man, Avengers nor any other Marvel identities belong to me. Any songs/song titles used are not owned by me either. I only own Jack Rowen, her family and any other fan OC that may show up in this fic unless stated otherwise. I am making no profit on this fanfiction.**

**Song used for title by Shinedown**

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Chapter One: "Cry for Help"

A lone female figure sat alone atop a building in Malibu, California, watching as the sunset turned the blue sky into a beautiful blaze of oranges and pinks. 'Better in person' was the only thought at the sight before her attention switched to watch as an airplane ascended into the darkening night, the very plane that had been her ride into the state. The woman was no older than twenty-two and could not be taller than five foot four with a pale complexion. On her head sat an old Fedora, faded black and ragged, the white band almost torn completely and below the hat hide red-orange that seemed to darken to the tips. A pair of Aviator sunglasses hid her eyes and reflected the dieing sunset as well as the skyline. She wore a purple, baggy jumpsuit with the zipper down at about her navel, showing off her black sleeveless top. The sleeves of the jumpsuit were rolled up below her shoulders and her collar remained unfolded. Red, worn out converse shoes finished her apparel, obviously not worn to match her other clothes.

As darkness finally fall on Malibu, faint twinkling stars beginning to appear in the cloudless night sky, the woman turned from were she had watched the sun to look to the street below. Businesses that would gain no customers at night had started to close their shops for the night hours. There were still stores that would remain open. Namely coffee shops. One such place stood as the lone store on a residential back road, The Coffee Meter. A green flash. 'Family owned and named by the children, The Coffee Meter seems to be a mildly popular business.' Though at the moment the store was only occupied by employees and three customers. The woman eyed two of the customers, a couple by the looks of it, who sat together at one table with their orders chatting then at the third. The third customer was a women with dirty blond hair that was styled in a low bun. She was facing away from the window and was clearly ordering at the register. The observer glanced at the woman's outfit, a dark business jacket and skirt with black heels, and almost snorted. 'Why is she ordering and not her driver?' At that the woman turned her head in the direction of her driver, whom was in the car some distance away. Another green flash of light shown, from behind her aviator sunglasses.

"Happy Hogan, huh, what a name..." came a feminine voice in a whisper, it held no emotion as was normal for the female as was occasional anger. She knew of fear, panic but all other emotions remained locked in a box, chained at the back of her mind. Maybe there was there was the occasional happiness and excitement when getting the things she did, done but it was never for long and never shown. A snort did come from her before she turned back to the coffee shop. The woman was leaving the register now with her order of three medium sized coffees and a brown paper bag that most-likely held baked goods. The green light flashed again before the woman in the business suit turned to call a goodbye and thanks to the cashier. "So, this is Virginia "Pepper" Potts, assistant to one Anthony "Tony" Stark. Finally." Another, softer whisper came from the observer as Virginia was now opening the door to leave.

Seeing this, the red haired woman jumped from atop the building and into a dark shadow below with a quiet grace. She started towards the street, planning cross it and confront the older female before she made it to her ride. Before she could call out to Virginia, a man stumbled out from an alleyway a building from the coffee shop and two buildings from the car. 'Shit' A soft curse crossed the woman's mind when she noticed that he had grabbed Miss Potts, causing her to drop her bought goods and had begun to drag her into the rather large yet dim alleyway. 'Fuck!' A second curse was directed at Happy, whom had not been paying any attention, he was on his phone. The observer quickened her pace into a run when could no longer see nor her the business woman, narrowly getting run over by a car that just went on its way.

The observer flexed both her arms as she made it to the alleyway's opening, looking down the wide alley, she took note of the dead end at the back and obvious upkeep with the lack of regular garbage. There was a dirty old sofa at the back wall, needles and other drug paraphernalia littering the back as well. There were three men in total, the one that had taken her into the alley still had a hold on her, an arm around her waist which also kept her arms at her side and a hand covering her mouth. He was whispering in her ear and the red head was sure she saw tears gathering. The two other man were standing close by, one clenching an almost finished off bottle of jack. They were clearing showing the mirth as whom seemed to be their boss continued to whisper to the frightened business woman.

She gritted her teeth in pure anger, then she spoke, her voice robotic, cold and deathly calm. "Hey, you degenerate pieces of complete crap, it's about time you let the nice lady go on her way." She ground this out slowly and clearly to really make sure they understood and heard her.

The three degenerates, who were just about to start roughing up their, what they thought was, new 'toy', stopped to look at the speaker. Now that their features could be seen, she took in their appearances with three quick flashes. The man that had grabbed Virginia Potts was an average looking man, his hair was a medium brown which was slicked back with to much hair product. His eyes were a muddy brown which at this time were hazed over from drinking and possible drugs. This man's outfit was a white collared shirt, black business pants and dress shoes. A failure of a working man with slight muscle tone. Carter Kinsley. The one to his left had a mess of black, short hair hair atop his head with matching scruffy facial hair. His eye were a dark blue that looked black from his drunken and drugged up state. His muscle tone, which he had more than his leader, was seen under his black muscle shirt. He also wore jeans and black shoes. James McClain. The last man, the one holding the bottle of jack, was short and fat with dusty brown hair and hazel eyes. Sweat could be seen from his plain gray t-shirt and black sweatpants, he was wearing tennis shoes. Scott Danners.

"Lo-look at 'dis boys. A 'lil lost kitten came lookin fer milk~" Carter slurred as he eyed the new woman before him, a lecherous smirk on his face. His small gang all started chuckling as they ravished her with their eyes before he continued. "I tink the three of us can easily give you dat, sweethart."

She had been staring into Pepper's grey-blue eyes behind her Aviators while the men were undressing her with their eyes and when she spoke, she spoke to Pepper. "The name is Jack," She paused to turn her attention to Carter, "and I have been meaning to speak to Miss Potts here about something important." Pausing again, she took the time to flex her arms once more. "So I will not allow you to hurt her and will not be allowing you to complete what your sick minds have concocted" Jack spoke calmly, her robotic tone hid her anger well. 'I will not let these men ruin my chance at life!'

"Wha was dat? Who's ta say we can't just ova power ya?" slurred the man named James as he smirked at the red headed woman. Jack ignored him, staring directly at Pepper but he didn't notice, as he continued to butcher his speech. "I am goin ta fuckin destroy your pretty mouth when I'm through wit you." The black haired man finally noticed that Jack was ignoring him. "Don't ignore me bitch!" That was when he lunged at her, his fist raised and a mad look in his glazed eyes.

Jack's eyes instantly lock on him behind her sunglasses, green lighting up behind the tinted glass before she dodged to the side, close to the left wall. The skin showing on her arms began to have a shine on them as they began to turn silver but James did not take notice. The reeked of his alcohol coated breath hit her as she dodged and a grimace flashed across her face. She dropped into a crouch after he stumbled before recovering, looking for her in a moment of stupidity. Jack move her left foot to lean her heel against the wall and ready her right fist as he came at her again. Once in striking distance, she launched out of her crouch, pushing hard on the wall with her left foot and landed uppercut to his jaw. James was thrown back with a cry of pain, blood and most definitely loss of a tooth or two. His jaw was sure to have atleast cracked as well.

Walking towards James, she had just a second to spin to her right and block her face with her right forearm. Shock and a jolting pain shook her body as a blade was forced through her forearm, the sound of metal giving way filled her ears, the tip of the blade had shattered a lens of her sunglasses as well. 'Oh My Fucking..., this hurts damnit!' A muffled gasp was heard to the side, a quick note that she was in the only light in the alley, but besides that it was ignored as Jack bit her lip and grab Scott's wrist with her left hand. She snarled as she began crushing his wrist, forcing him to release the handle of the knife. Before she advanced on Scott, she spun around in a round house kick that collided with James' noses, breaking it. As he fell back unconscious, Scott took the opportunity to throw a punch at Jack which connected with her right cheek, knocking off her hat and aviators. Her sunglasses were completely destroyed at this point.

Staggering slightly to regain her footing, dull blue-gray eyes could be seen moments before the regained their emerald glow. "Big mistake fat ass." was hiss out before Jack spit the blood from her mouth to the ground. Scott back up to the wall as she advanced, he went to defend himself but Jack had already swung. She sent a powerful blow to his round stomach causing him to double over before meeting his face with a swift knee. His head hit the wall he backed himself to and he was out cold, he slumped to the floor when Jack moved away.

"Now now." The leader slurred, though it sounded like he was sobering up, his hold on Pepper's mouth tighten as he held a knife to the woman's throat. "We don't want ta have ta break your promise Jackie~"

Pepper's eyes, that had already been shining with unshed tears, finally release the liquid at the man's words. Her eyes seemed to plead to the other woman, for help or for Jack to just give up, Jack wasn't sure. "That, dear Carter Kinsley, won't happen. You see, I have come a long way just to talk to Miss Potts and I'm done waiting." Her anger was clear through the snarling undertone. Anger was a pure emotion that was ever to shine through her carefully constructed metal mask.

Carter paused, shocked that the woman named Jack not only knew his name but as she once again walked into the only light in the alleyway, he finally noticed her arms and glowing eyes. He had to swallow a few times to get his voice back, "Wh-what the fuck are you?! Do-don't come any clo-closer, you freak!" He held the knife closer to Pepper's neck, close enough to nick the flesh and cause a small amount of blood to leak out. Virginia's whimper did not go unnoticed by the other female. "You don't ev-even have the upper-hand!" He gave an uneasy smirk as Jack's eyes narrowed dangerously.

A soft huff came from Jack as she raised her left arm straight to the side, palm facing the wall, her eyes started glowing brighter. "I had the upper-hand the moment I first spoke.." Her robotic tone had returned, emotionless once more. Jack then slowly moved her arm to have it straight in front of her, palm now facing Carter. A ghost of a smirk came to her face as the look of shock and fear over took Carter's face as his body stiffened. "I would never let a bunch of drunken buffoons get in my way."

His body shook as his muscles to twitch and began to move on there own. The arm holding the knife began to pull away from Pepper's neck and once clear his hand dropped the knife. "Wh-what are y-you doing to m-me?!" Carter freaked out as his body did not obey him, he had sobered.

"I took over your muscles, you do not need to know how" was his emotionless answer before Jack surged forward and decked him in the face with her right fist. His eyes rolled back away and he fell away from Pepper to land on the couch behind him. Turning around, shaking her hand out, she noticed the knife still in her arm and sighed silently, thankful she could not feel it now."Now Pepper," She paused to pick up her fallen fedora, "I can call you that right? Are you alright?" Emotion did not reach her voice but the slight fear that the other woman was serious hurt physically or mentally shone in her now dull blue-gray eyes. Her arms began to take the look of flesh again except for the area around the knife.

Pepper took a moment to shake her head no, before she took in the three unconscious men and the woman that stood before her. "I'm fine." Her voice was small, still in a state of shock. She shook her head again, slower this time as if letting what happen process. "Thanks for saving me. Your name is Jack, right?"

'She's still in shock but that's expected, the woman had almost been raped and would've most-likely been killed.' Jack thought before she nodded as a your welcome as well as answering Pepper's question. "What I said was fact, I do wish to speak to you but its more about speak with your employer," she eyed the other female carefully while walking towards her and then the exit, "but I believe leaving this alleyway first would be most logical." Her robotic tone continued to reign over her tone of voice. As she was nearing the exit, she turned back to Pepper and was about to ask if she was coming along when she was interrupted. The sudden sound of jets, a clang of metal hitting concrete and the sound of said jets offlining behind her made her turn. There behind her was a robot-like being coming out of a kneel that it had landed it.

Iron Man now stood before her, and behind him was Happy Hogan with a gun pointed directly at Jack's chest as he tried to catch his breath from rushing over. All that crossed Jack's mind at that moment was 'Aw shit.'

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**Note: Edited to have more detail, description and thoughts. Thoughts will usually only be from Jack unless stated other-wise.**


	2. Even If I Could

**EDITED: 6/3/2013**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_JARVIS talking in Jack's head"_

**This fanfiction is rated M for strong language, hints at adult situations and fighting.**

**Iron Man, Avengers nor any other Marvel identities belong to me. Any songs/song titles used are not owned by me either. I only own Jack Rowen, her family and any other fan OC that may show up in this fic unless stated otherwise. I am making no profit on this fanfiction.**

**Song used for title by Papa Roach**

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Chapter Two: "Even If I Could"

Silence was not a good thing when one lives within a forest setting, that was one of the things you have to learn early on when you start living in one. The creatures always knew best when danger was with the area. A small child around the age of eight, wearing ripped and tattered clothing, looked around at the surrounding trees that only moments before held singing birds. Dull blue-green eyes searched the area that she stood in before glancing at the small fish that she had caught moments before. A sigh came from the child before she looked up, her eyes widening as a missile came speeding at the small girl.

"Jack?"

Jack jolted horribly into awareness, scaring Pepper, who was about to shake her shoulder, in the process. She had been in a daydream, 'No,' she thought, 'I was locked in very inaccurate memory.' She had missed Pepper coming out of her shock enough to explained what happened to Iron Man and Happy. Both had not noticed the unconscious men and had thought Jack had been the one to attack Pepper. Happy had looked up from his phone call the moment Jack had went into the alley and had promptly called Tony after confirming that Virginia was no longer at The Coffee Meter. Jack shook her head to dislodge her thought process before looking at Pepper. "Sorry, you were saying?" she asked as she wiped her face with her right hand.

Pepper forgot what she was about to say to the younger woman when her eyes landed on Jack's right forearm, "Jack, your arm?!" her voice sounded confused and held panic. She took a step toward her, bringing her hand up to touch Jack's arm but stopped.

'Oh.' Jack thought looking to her right forearm, the knife had started moving around which within itself was creepy. 'I never like this feeling...' Pain wasn't what she felt as the blade began to dig deeper into her arm, the feeling was like when a body part falls asleep then begins to wake up. A horrible pins and needles feeling that she hated with a passion. Hate was another emotion that wasn't a stranger. Pepper's out burst had drawn the attention of the other two still conscious, Tony having removed the metal face plate before to take to Pepper.

"What the fuck?" Happy gasped, making Jack look up at him, before he put a hand to his mouth, looking to a little sick. "What the fuck?" He repeated in a muffled whisper. Her eyes than landed on Stark whom was was watching in what she thought was child-like wonder.

As Jack felt the nano-machines finish with the metal, letting whatever wasn't fall away, she rubbed the area roughly. "Now, I assume Pepper told you what happened?" She asked, ignoring Happy and placing her arms behind her back. 'Because I'd seriously not want to talk more than needed.' She deadpanned in her head.

Tony nodded before pointing an armored finger at her,"What just happened with your arm?" Tony asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Before she could even decide if she'd answer, Happy, who seemed to get over his rolling stomach, piped up, "I don't think that is the question you need to be asking Tony! What about what Pepper said, she knew the name of leader of those men that attacked her!" He was gesturing wildly at the red haired woman by now.

She scoffed, glancing at Pepper with a deadpanned expression that matched what she thought before, "Now for a man named Happy, you haven't held up to your name sake." She sounded bitter, robotic and if anyone asked those that heard her, snarky. 'Like I'd make deals with scum. I work alone fat boy.' She thought this as she glared at the man.

"Well, maybe, its because I don't trust you!" Happy bit out, his face going just a little red with possibly anger. "All that still seems planned to me." He was close to start getting into her face but was trying to refrain himself, he wasn't about to let some one that was obviously dangerous get away with whatever she was planning.

"I didn't, and still don't, know those men personally, I didn't even know those men were going to be here." Jack was close to growling back, she suddenly rained in her anger before speaking again. "I had been about to speak to Miss Pepper after she was done with ordering from the coffee shop." 'I can't let him ruin this either, if someone ruins my chance at life, it'll be me alone.'

"Why not talked to her in the coffee shop?" Tony mumbled, more to himself than anything as he stared at the Fedora wearing woman before him. She was definitely different, what with glowing green eyes, skin turning to metal and absorbing a knife blade, he was sure she was. What he wasn't sure about was how she was doing all of that. He also noticed how she seemed to only have two emotional states, anger and emotionless. Odd.

The anger that she had tried to keep behind her mask suddenly lashed out and loosened her tongue. "I looked them up by facial recognition, nothing more." She snarled, her eyes had a dim green tint to it, but her deflated at the looks she was getting. "What?" 'Oh shit, what did I fuck up?'

"How would you be able to do that?" Tony suddenly started to walk towards her, looking her over once more. "You don't have any visible tech to do so, so fast and in such a dark area." He stopped near Pepper, placed an armored hand on her shoulder carefully noticing her slightly distant look the stared at the odd woman before him.

Jack removed her fedora then and started messing with the brim, she didn't know where to go with all this now. She didn't feel safe telling them anything about herself that they hadn't seen for themselves so far but she was getting to her limits with what she can say. "Its...its the same reason my body absorbed the metal of the knife..." Information on herself had to be kept limited, but she knew she had come so far and she had only a week left. 'I have to trust these people but this area isn't safe.' She was getting nervous, which she hadn't felt in so long so she clamped down on the emotion, her face went neutral.

By the look Tony had, he was interested, if he hadn't been before from the knife. "And that reason would be?" He drew out his sentence. He needed to know now, know how this woman could make her skin metal, how she could absorb metal and look people up just from a glance.

Jack blinked at him slowly, "I would rather not talk about that...in an open like this." she glanced back at the still unconscious men, "I'm taking a risk here you know, coming all this way to Malibu, California." 'Talking to you in general could be life threatening...'

"Then why not come back to my place sweet cheeks?" Tony gave her a winning smile that she ignored, "You can ride with Pepps and Happy" He made it sound like a done deal before glaring at Happy, whom seemed to be about ready to argue.

Jack placed her hat back atop her head before motioning Pepper to go first, "I would be happy to" she than turned to Happy and raised an eyebrow "If you're driver doesn't try and kill me." The robot she was was back.

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The ride to the house was quiet, which Jack didn't mind much, she was used to quiet as long as memories didn't come up. Pepper had spoken up twice in the ride but to only thank her again then to ask where she lived before coming to California. Jack had answered with the blunt answer of New Jersey but didn't let her know where in New Jersey. Soon after, the ride was quiet again though Jack had noticed Happy making quick glances back at her.

When they finally arrived at the house, Jack was astonished from the beauty of the place and couldn't help but think of how much it looked more of a mansion then a house. She let herself out of the car to see the white building more and almost missed Pepper's look of amusement. 'Holy shit, this is amazing! The curves of the house, the way it all flows and such grace!'

As they walked inside, Jack noted that Tony was already there and out of his suit with what looked to be a glass of scotch. "Well that took you long enough, what did you give her a tour of Malibu? At this time of night?" Tony looked to find his own joke funny, he had a large smile on his face.

Jack took this time to look over the man before her, she took in his dark brown almost black hair, his brown eyes and goatee. He was now wearing a black t-shirt, she could vaguely see a blue glow from his chest, black slacks and shoes. He was observing her as well.

"Sorry, we can't just fly back like you" Pepper kinda snapped back at him, walking passed him in the direction Jack assumed was the bathroom. Happy looked to be content with walking into the living room and sitting on the couch in front of the wall of windows, watching Jack as closely as the distance allowed.

"So," He dragged out the word then gestured in the air for her to begin as he took a sip of his drink, "Care to enlighten us, you seemed pretty set on talking to me from what Pepper said-"

"I remember what I had said," Jack cut him off, she glared at him with a grimace, "I'm not in the habit of forgetting important conversations." She then turned and followed Happy's lead to walk into the living room which she was delighted to say was beautiful. She took note of the fire place, the coffee table, the guitars, the everything before making her way to the couch to sit as far as possible from the grumpy Happy. That's when she spotted the water falling between the glass in front of a staircase and had to stop herself from smiling.

Tony glared at her back when she walked away from him, "I didn't say that you were. Now," He said this as he walked into the living room after her and placing his drink on the coffee table. "You have your audience so perform for them."

Jack stopped herself from getting mad at him as she took notice that Pepper had come back but looked to have fixed herself up. She also took note of how tired everyone was. Jack glanced around at everyone again before nodding, more to herself than anyone, stood up and began to pace. "As you know, my name is Jack. Jack Rowen, and I'm dead," she stopped here for a moment before continuing, "or at least that is what the world believes. As you can see, clearly that is not the case." She stopped again to take a breath before sighing, "My recorded death, the one that can be seen by the general public, was the same day that I truly started living. I became what your see before you. I am a host of varying nano-machines, or nanites. These allow me to do several things, absorb metals, access computers and tech, heal. If I send out enough I could control a human body for a short amount of time."

Tony watched her pace as she spoke of this and was about ready to stop her to get her to sit down again but she did so herself before he could. "That's all fine and dandy but I don't see where I am in all of this." He finally sat down himself, on the arm of the black leather chair near the guitars, Pepper sat in the seat itself. Tony was interested in what she was saying, sure, but as he said, he had no clue how he fit in. He couldn't even think of how this woman would even get nanites like the ones she spoke of and he was a genius!

The sigh that came from Jack's mouth was slow and sounded painful. 'I can't believe I am disregarding my pride...' "I can not remotely update my nano-machines. I need to absorb the software needed for this and it has been years since I have done so, because I didn't even know I needed to. I found out that I need to keep my mind busy, I need to keep the nano-machines active. Hacking had always been something that did that for me but recently, I have been leaving foot prints. I can't be found, I would rather die then be used." She grabbed her head, looking at her lap while gritting her teeth. "I came to you because I need your help, your tech is the best out there." 'And I would also rather die than have second best.'

"Why should I help you? Did you think that just because I let everyone know that I'm Iron Man that I'd just help you? You said so yourself, maybe not in words, that your a danger to everyone." He made a face at her before grabbing his drink again to take a long sip, "You setting up an attack again Pepper is starting out to sound just about right, right around now."

Jack didn't miss the look on Happy's face when she looked up, "I would never do such a thing! I have never and will never endanger anyone innocent on my own free will!" Her short fuze lit her anger, "I have been saving your ass way before today and you dare throw it in my face?!" She stood up abruptly and walked over to the big screen TV that was not far away and hidden behind a painting. Her eyes started to glow as she got it out of hiding, turned it on and the screen went from a show to static.

"Sir, it appears as someone is attempting to hack into your systems, I'm trying to block it but I can not seem to caught up." A proper British accented voice spoke up from the almost everywhere, it was ignored by Jack but Tony told it to allow Jack to hack the TV but nothing more. "Understood, sir."

As the voice finished speaking, footage appeared on the television which was split in four different squares. It was video of different countries trying to replicate the Iron Man suit with slim success. Seeing this, Tony stood up and walked closer slowly, his face didn't have an emotion that Jack could decipher. "When were these taken?"

"Recently. I personally made sure that none of them were even close, as well as leading them farther away from completion." Jack replied, her voice finally back to it's calm robotic tone. "That is what I do and its not just for you, I do it for anyone that truly needs it. If you have heard of Doctor Banner, he is one of them. This is why I need your help, not because I'm looking to collect but because I can't do my job anymore. I hack to remove information, to lead those that mean harm away, to help."

That's when the screen changed and a video took up the full screen, "Is that Hammer?" Tony asked, Jack nodded. Both of them winced as the man in the suit turned and suit clearly killed him. "Did you...?"

"No, I had nothing to do with that error, there was going to be an error where it just stopped moving all together twenty minutes of being on." She let go of her control of the TV before turning to Stark, now noticing that the other two had come closer. "If you do not wish to help me, I will leave now and will not bother you farther."

"Fine," Tony said, keeping a straight face. At Jack's questioning stare, he smiled which grew as he spoke, "But I want a blood sample."

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**Note: Edited this chapter as well, though not as much being as this chapter was meant to being mainly conversation. If you noticed Im trying to make sure that Jack's main emotions shown physically are only emotionless and anger. Other emotions are supposed to be kept under the surface, they tend to be locked away but can still come out. Astonishment over the house slipped out because of her love of art.**

**Thank you AvengerSSB, Cocagirl3, Deb Tiaki11, Two Days Ago and Null Fox for following this story and thank you RandomnessIsKey01 and Kitten-Kath for favoriting.**

**AvengerSSB: I'm happy you like this so far~**

**Also, if anyone likes Doctor Who, go check out PenSmith433 with Falling into Wonderland and its sequel Wandering in Wonderland. These stories are what inspired me to start writing again. **


	3. Comeback

**EDITED: 6/3/2013 - THE ENDING OF THIS CHAPTER HAS CHANGED!  
**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"_JARVIS talking in Jack's head"_

******This fanfiction is rated M for strong language, hints at adult situations and fighting.**

**Iron Man, Avengers nor any other Marvel identities belong to me. Any songs/song titles used are not owned by me either. I only own Jack Rowen, her family and any other fan OC that may show up in this fic unless stated otherwise. I am making no profit on this fanfiction.**

**Song used for title by Redlight King**

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Chapter Three: "Comeback"

Two days had past since the incident in the alleyway, Jack had let Tony have the blood sample the morning after as well as let them know of her hacker name, Techno. She had to control her nano-machines to go with her blood, they were programmed not to, which she had to explain to Tony when he became startled at her emerald glowing eyes. Her blood and nanites had him occupied since.

Jack was at this point was standing behind the couch in the living room, at the windows that over looked the ocean, which she had to note felt like an unsafe decision in her opinion. She was reflecting on her stay so far, which had surprised her. These people were always to close to bringing out the emotions she had locked down on for so long now and she knew it was her own fault. She would keep them behind her mask when they would appear but they were still there. 'It's only been two days and I'm starting feel like a did with him...' Her eyes suddenly met with Tony's as he walked up behind her, a huge smile on his face. 'Yet...it's different somehow.'

"So, I guess it about time we started talking about that upgrade, Tech." He announced, making Jack turn to him fully before stepping around the curved sofa. "How do you suggest going about this? Put the software in a hard drive? A CD?" He stopped to snicker to himself a little, "A floppy?"

Jack study him for what was the fiftieth time before a small, ghost of a smirk appeared on her face, she had realized he had been trying to get her to lighten up. "Anything metal would work, even a suit similar to yours would do" She paused to roll her eyes, 'I doubt that would ever happen' "So no, floppy disks are out of the question. I may not have upgraded for fifteen years but that doesn't mean anything." She didn't notice the look in his eyes when she said suit and even if she had she would guessed he was ridiculing her.

"That would be perfect!" Was her only warning before he ran off down the stairs to his 'lab', he almost ran into Pepper on the way.

"What's got him so excited?" Pepper laughed as she walked up to the other woman in the house, taking a mental note that Jack looked adorable in Tony's casual clothing which was way to big for the girl. She was wearing a pair of his sweatpants, the draw string pulled to hang low and the legs covered her feet. She also wore one of Tony's band t-shirts, the sleeves gathered at her elbows and the shirt itself ended after her hips. A second note was made that the girl needed her own clothes...

Jack just rubbed the back of her head and shrugged, "Beats me, we were talking about my upgrade when he ran off. It think he wants to make a metal floppy disk as a joke..." Her voice held a neutral, calm, emotionless tone, she had did her best to drop the robotic tone, she trailed off as she noticed Pepper holding something.

Pepper smiled at the shorter woman before clearing her throat, "I know that you don't like crowds but the Stark Expo opening is coming up. In two day actually and I would like to invite you, you won't be on stage or anything." She shifted the gift wrapped object in her hand, it was rectangular and had a small bow on it. "Oh, and this is for you Jack!"

Jack took the box carefully, she blinked at it slowly before looking at Pepper, "What's this for?" she said it so softly she was sure she might have to repeat it, which would be a problem because the second time would not hold the awe that the first did. It had been a long time since she got a present that she felt her chest constrict in an emotion that she was sure of, it felt like a mixed up version of happiness but then why did she feel like sobbing? She pushed the feeling down forcefully.

"A Thank You gift, for saving me" Was her reply, which almost brought the emotion back but she stomped down on the feeling again. Jack's eyes went to the almost healed cut in Pepper's neck and felt guilt, she had promised she wouldn't get hurt... "Open it already" Pepper laughed before pushing the box closer to Jack.

Doing as she was told, Jack carefully unwrapped the present. She opened it by removing the bow and unsticking the tape, she didn't want to ruin the wrapping. The box had nothing on it so Jack opened it to find new aviators, a small smile reflected back at her before it was directed at Pepper before it was gone completely. "Thank you..." Tears were in her eyes now, she could feel them, so she quickly put on the sunglasses. Sunglasses had always been a sort of security blanket for the red headed woman, if an emotion did slip from her iron clad mask, the glasses would block it from the world. The last two days had been hard.

Pepper smiled back, her smile a lot bigger than the other woman's had been. "Your quite welcome, I remembered yours had broke in the fight so..." She gestured to the new pair, "Now, about the Expo?"

Jack blinked behind her new sunglasses, suddenly getting the feeling of being scanned by JARVIS, which wasn't a new feeling so she shook it off. JARVIS apparently liked to make sure she wasn't trying to hack him again, on Tony's order Jack wasn't sure. "I'm sorry Pepper, I'm not ready for that. I have never been in a crowded area in my life and I'm still worried someone will come after me." Was this guilt that she was feeling now? It's been a while since the last she felt guilt. "You can have the sunglasses back if you want." She was taking them off to hand them back when Pepper stopped her.

"Keep them. It's fine, really, I just figure I ask. It'll just be you and JARVIS here then that night so if you want anything to have for dinner, let me know." Pepper sighed, she had raised a hand to stop Jack from taking off her aviators so she put it back at her side.

"I'm sorry," Jack gave Pepper an awkward smile because she knew her voice did not show the guilt that she felt, "Thanks for thinking about me..." 'You and Tony have done so much and I can't do much...'

Pepper beamed down at Jack as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't be sorry Jack. How about tomorrow we go out and get you a wardrobe? Tony's paying of coarse." She said this before giving Jack a closed eyed smile.

Before Jack could reply JARVIS called, "Miss Rowen, Mr Stark would like to see you, he says it important." his proper British voice coming from everywhere.

Jack smiled at Pepper, "I can try." She said before heading to where Tony had gone, marveling for the millionth time at the water falling between the glass. When she came to the bottom of the stairs, JARVIS opened the door to the lab, she didn't have a code just yet. What she saw made her stop right inside the doorway. Tony was working on a hologram of a suit with what looked to be over a hologram of herself. "What is this?" She was honestly confused, she didn't really mean it when she talked about a suit.

That was when he looked up at her, the smile on his face was like a kid at a candy store. He motioned her over before spinning the model. "Do you like it? It will be complete with the software you need, fire power, flight and of coarse, JARVIS." Oh yeah, Tony was excited.

"That's all well and good Stark, but I thought you would be against this. I was joking about the whole suit thing. You're handing me a weapon here which from what I heard you stopped doing..." Her unsure look on what could be seen of her face compensated for the lack of it in her tone and this made Tony pout. She walked closer to the table the was projecting the hologram.

Tony glared at her for a moment more before his face lit up again. "Well, I want to do this! If your nano-machines can do everything you say they do, then you can remake the suit after its absorbed and that in itself would be worth it. Besides, once you get the software update, you can just bypass JARVIS unnoticed and take the tech anyway so I'm saving you the trouble." He grinned in triumph when he noticed the slight turn of her head as she looked away. "That's not the point, the point is that with this you can really help those people. Not just remove their whereabouts, or handout false information. You will also have the protection that would allow you to feel safe around people." After he finished gesturing with his hands, they ended up on his hips and his triumph had become ten fold.

'He really thought about this, maybe even before I said anything, not just ran with an off-handed comment.' Jack looked the design over, it was a female version of his suit complete with the red and gold and lacking the arc reactor window. She took control of the hologram and zoomed in on the helm. She began to reconstruct the helmet, not wanting it to look like Tony's, she made the part over the mouth open up by splitting in the middle then slide into the helmet itself. Jack then made the area from just below the eyes slide back like normal but smooth the eyes to give off more of a neutral look instead of Iron Man's angry one. Smiling, she finished the helm by adding elf ear looking antenna around the ears. With that done she zoomed out once more.

Tony studied the new helmet with a hand on his chin, humming as he did so. He then took control of the hologram, zooming into below the collar bone area and created a small circular area the size of a half dollar coin that would now glow blue lightly. A homage to Tony's arc reacter. Before he could move done to the chest area, Jack resumed control. She zoomed back out and smiled faintly at it. "No other changes then?" He asked her looking over the armor before looking at her.

Shaking her head no she replied, "I don't see anything worth changing now besides the colors. Red and gold doesn't suit the stealth I require Stark." She spoke softly before nodding, "How about mainly black, secondary forest green and with the slightest of gold accents? Though leave your little blue circle blue?"

Tony nodded. "And make the eyes glow green instead of the white-blue?" He asked rhetorically, changing the colors of the model before nodding again. "It should be done by tomorrow night."

"Thank you, for everything Stark." Jack stated, the pure emotion of happiness safe behind her aviators, though that was the only place it slipped passed her mask.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get all mushy on me Tech. You'll lose your image." Tony joked, removing her hat to mess with her hair before turning the hat and walking away, telling JARVIS to start production. He began to scold a robot that she had been told was named Dummy.

"My image?" Jack asked quietly to herself as she watched the man that has done more than he knew for her. Even if she was not expecting a reply, she received one from JARVIS.

"Of being an emotionless robot, Miss Rowen." He said this as she about to move after Tony, his reply made her stop before she began. "Though only Mr Hogan thinks this I believe, he has not been around to see that you have dropped your robotic tone."

This hit Jack hard, she knew she had trouble with her emotions but she was trying now to at least let up on being the rumored robot that the internet world had deemed her. Sometimes it gets hard for her to even understand them, so at times she had to shut them down. It's been thirteen years since she felt any of the good emotions besides that of being calm. All the bad emotions came easy and was understood just as easy but the others were hard for her. With that in mind, she left to the room that Tony gave her, mumbling her thanks to JARVIS.

* * *

The morning had come faster than Jack had expected, she had also not expected to be woken up by Pepper instead of JARVIS. Once Pepper saw that Jack's eyes were open, she began to talk about what they had to do within the next two hours before she had to get to work. She tried to keep up with the talking woman but she eventually gave up and left the main part of the bedroom to her bathroom.

Pepper was waiting on her bed when she was done, a look of impatience on her face. She grabbed Jack's hand quickly before dragging her out of the room without a word. Jack had just enough time to grab her Aviators but not her hat. "Must we rush?" Jack asked with her calm, neutral voice.

"I have work in only an hour now. You take to long in the shower!" Pepper almost growled at the other woman as she dragged the smaller of the two towards the door and the car Happy would be driving. Pepper didn't seem to care that Jack kept tripping on the baggy sweatpants she was wearing.

It turned out that Jack could only handle being in the store for a few minutes before she had to rush out of the damned place. The whole time she took to leave the store, which wasn't that long, Pepper learned that her new friend knew more curses then she could imagine. In the end, they didn't buy a thing and had went home early. The small story had brought Tony to tears.

* * *

That night, Jack suit was done just like Tony had said and right now Jack was marveling at it openly. It was sleek and beautiful, a marvelous piece of art and right about now Jack hoped that her nanites would be able to remake it. "It's wonderful Tony!" She held to much excitement that it held seeped into the sentence, which went unnoticed by herself. Everyone had noticed her trying to put great effort into putting emotions into everything she said but this was genuine.

"I'm glad you like it, now get in it." Tony put bluntly, "You have been staring at it for a full hour now. Now, I think you should get in it without your clothes."

Jack glared at him from his remark, though he could not see this from behind her sunglasses before she realized what he meant. "Then get out!"

"I jus-"

"OUT!" Jack didn't need to put effort into that, as she was uncomfortable with herself as it was but once he ran out of the lab she sighed. "JARVIS, make sure he doesn't try anything."

"Already working on that Miss Rowen." came the reply.

Quickly stripping, she stood in place to allow JARVIS to assemble the suit around her. She tried to not move as he did so but the suit touching bare skin was weird. Once every piece was in place, the HUD in her helmet came alive in the same green that her eyes glew and everything started to boot up. Once she saw that everything was in order, as well as JARVIS stating that it was so, Jack's eyes started to glow. She took control of every nanite in her body that could absorb the material that now surrounded her and had to hold back the gagging sensation as it began. She started on the helm and as the last of it joined her body, she began to dry heave as the rest of the suit became one with her. Counting down from ten, she calmed her body before she walked to her clothes, the suit now completely part of her. Once her underwear and bra were on though, she fell into unconsciousness, her head hitting the floor.

* * *

Jack woke up the next morning in her room, glaring at the ceiling. She didn't dare move just yet as her body did a self check and boot up, which was weird for her. That had only happened the day after the accident but she figured this would have to happen. Taking note of the obvious differences, she noticed the HUD from the suit's helmet now was permanent in her version, annoying but her could get used to it. Her mind had full access to JARVIS now, which she decided to try. "Hey, JARVIS, answer in my head if you hear this, who found me and brought me here?"

"_I alerted Miss Potts first to allow her to make you decent before alerting Mr Stark, whom brought you to your room. Would that be all Miss Rowen?" _JARVIS spoke in her head, clearly as if he spoke to her from the speakers in the room.

"That would be all, thank you." Jack replied with a big smile on her face, acknowledging JARVIS' welcome before getting out of the bed to get ready for the day.

* * *

In about an hour, Tony and Pepper were to leave for the Expo, Pepper with Happy and Tony in his Iron Man suit. Jack had already thanked the two for helping her out and was at that moment watching Pepper help Tony with his tie. She was making a point to ignore Mr Hogan.

"Say, Jackie?" Tony called over Pepper's head as she fiddled with his tie. "I have a question for you, it's been rolling around in my head since you came to the house."

Jack looked to him and raised an eyebrow at him, he looked fine and she couldn't understand why Pepper was fussing. "That would be?"

"If you had been watching my back enough to screw those guys over, then what happened when I got taken?" He asked this casually, as if asking about the weather, which was perfect by the way.

Jack looked down at her feet for just a moment before looking at his eyes through her aviators. "At that point in time? I wasn't following you, like, at all. All you were, was a weapons manufacturer and nothing more. It was when you became Iron Man, that was when I began following you." It was true, all he had been was a rich somebody to the public but a rich nobody to her. "Now? Now I owe you my life Anthony Edward Stark, and I am deeply sorry about what happened to you in those cave but by no means do I regret it."

Everyone was staring at her now, if they hadn't been when she started speaking. Tony spoke first, "You owe me your life?" He said it slowly as if comprehending it.

"I would have died by the end of this week if I did not get the update. The nanites in my head would've destroyed my brain, make it explode in my head because they were not being occupied with a job. Now they can hack without leaving a trail and are doing so as we speak." Actual, genuine excitement full her voice as she spoke and a real smile was on her face. Emotions had become just slightly easier for her since the update.

"You would have died if he said no? You couldn't have gone to a computer store or something?!" Pepper sounded upset. "You said yourself that you would have left the moment he said no."

Taking off her glasses, Jack looked Pepper in the eyes and spoke softly, "I would have died alone." She then smiled sadly, "I said I was taking a risk, it was Stark Tech or nothing. I had come to terms with that before I travel so far from home. Now, enough of that, you all have an Expo to go to." And Jack had a suit to try out.

* * *

'JARVIS? Is the version of you installed within my nanites separate from the house and Iron Man?' Jack asked through thought as she washed her plates from dinner. She had leftovers from the night before, when she had past out. After the confirmation sounded in her mind, she continued, 'Good. I will be the one to determine what information will be transferred. All information gather must be kept within my personal memory.' This was needed for everyone's sake not just from paranoia. She finished with the dishes before cleaning her hands and placing her fedora and aviators on the table. "Now then, lets try out this suit."

* * *

Jack stood outside of the house at the helicopter pad, hear eyes were set on the night sky with a serene expression. She wore the clothing that she met Pepper in, a comfort that she needed for what she was about to do. A sigh left her mouth as she lowered her head before throwing out her arm and spreading her legs. "Begin." Was all she stated before metal began to shift and expand before every pour of her body. It was a new sensation, different and could not be explained. She could not decided if she liked it or not but she pushed such thoughts away. The metal seemed to almost crawl across her as it formed, coming out from behind her clothing to cover them as well. As the process completed, the HUD that glowed in her eyes transferred to the screen of her mask in front of her.

"_Reconstruction complete. Systems boot up...50%...75%...92%...Systems boot up complete. Suit ready for use, My lady." _JARVIS announced in his calming voice. What he had said had also shown up on her HUD.

A ghost of a true smile came to Jack's face as she made a small noise of acknowledgment before she booted up the jets that would have her flying. "We will finally be able to fly father. Just like you dreamed." The soft and enduring tone she used was barely audible. One last quick smile and Jack booted up the stabilizers in her hands and she was off into the night sky.

* * *

Jack flew for over an hour before finally landing in an empty area, she was tired, hungry and was sure that by tomorrow that her body would be aching all over. She had found that the suit was powered by calories and she did not eat enough, not thinking of this fact. She'd have to save enough energy for the flight back to Tony's house. 'Either I can become a black hole for food or I talk to Tony about an arc reactor...' Allowing the suit to become one with her again with a sigh, she only had moments before the screech of tires filled the silent streets. She turned swift only to have the world feel like it was standing still as the car that speed past her, carried someone she didn't expect to see.

Her mother.

* * *

**Note: Edited to add more detail and some of Jack's thoughts. This one was abit more detailed than the others before the edit so it wasn't so bad.**

**AvengerSSB: You're quite welcome and Thank you, I'm trying to integrate Jack into what actually happened in the movie. It won't be stuff like replacing Rhodey or anything but it will hopefully be noticeable like that.**


End file.
